


Without Hyacinth

by StellarLibraryLady



Series: Stories from the Cupboard [11]
Category: Keeping Up Appearances
Genre: Established Relationship, Gen, Nostalgia, Wistful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 13:53:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12014133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellarLibraryLady/pseuds/StellarLibraryLady
Summary: Richard Bucket looks back nostalgically at his life with the social climbing Hyacinth.





	Without Hyacinth

“Are you warm enough out here, Richard?”

Richard smiled up gently. He had been nearly dosing in the warm summer air heavy with the aroma of Hyacinth‘s flowers. But it had been pleasant in the shade of the ash tree as he sat in the glider. “I am fine. Thank you, Liz.”

Elizabeth Bucket surveyed the back garden. “My, it is pleasant out here, isn‘t it? So many bright colors from the roses. They are lovely indeed this year. I envy you surrounded by all of this beauty.”

“Come sit with me for awhile then,” he invited. A light twinkled in his eyes. “I can be persuaded to share this glider quite easily, you know.”

“That would be most pleasant, also, Richard,” she said with a tender smile.

“After all, it is also known as a loveseat,” he said as she sat beside him. 

“Richard! You are being an old tease this morning, aren‘t you?!” she teased herself as she gently patted his wrinkled hand.

“I like to see that beautiful blush go across your cheeks, my dear,” he answered fondly. “It goes so nicely on that blonde English face and those Nordic blue eyes. Red, yellow, blue. Primary colors, the best combination that there is.”

“Oh, you are a dear, really you are! So poetic!“ she declared as she hugged his arm a moment, then settled back to be properly sitting beside her husband the way an English lady should. “I really shouldn’t take more than a few moments, though.”

“Whatever household task that you were doing will be patiently waiting for your return,” he said fondly.

“You’re right, of course. And it is fun to play hooky, isn’t it? I feel quite daring, actually.”

“I used to be quite an expert at it.”

“Thank goodness you don’t need any of that deception anymore.”

“No, no, I don’t,” he said with a soft chuckle. “You aren’t a hard taskmaster, at all.” He reached over and patted her hand.

“I used to watch you from my window, you know. I’d think, oh, that poor, dear man. Trying to get some rest, and Hyacinth has such a long list of chores for him to do.”

“The lists weren’t so bad,” he said, remembering. “But sometimes the reasons for the lists got a little difficult to take. They weren‘t meant so much to improve as to impress somebody, generally somebody in the social class one up from ours.”

“She was so concerned about appearances, wasn’t she?”

“Yes. I used to tell her that it really didn’t make any difference to people, that nobody would notice. But she said that she would notice. You know, I often thought of her being like those little stores that have a false front. They look two stories high, but in actuality they are only one story with a sloping roof. But just as long as the front view looked more spectacular than actuality, then everything was alright. False fronts do hide so many social ills, she would say.” He chuckled to himself. “Or should have.”

“It must’ve been terrible to have been so concerned about what the right people would think about her.”

“I suppose it was because she never attained the grandeur in life that she aspired for. I couldn’t provide well enough for her tastes. So she had to pretend that we had more than we actually did.”

“Richard, you mustn't belittle yourself," she reproved rather stoutly for she was always striving to bolster the self-opinion of this gentle creature who now shared her life. "You provided what was important for a good life for her. You were a loyal, steadfast husband and really went out of your way to try to please her. You did a good job, and I won't hear differently from you!"

She was really getting quite adamant at the end of her speech, Richard thought. She was such a dear, especially when it came to defending him.

He patted her slender hand and gave her a tender smile. "Thank you, old thing. You really are a dear."

"I just can get steamed up about Hyacinth sometimes! She really could be atrocious with you!"

It was quite of cute seeing those pale blue eyes blaze with fire and to see the color rise up in those pale cheeks. What a love she was!

Richard patted her hand again. “She had a hunger, though. I knew it. That’s why I believe I went along with so many of her shenanigans. I knew that she was trying to better our place in the world.”

“But often at the price of her peace of mind. And mine. And definitely yours.” Elizabeth shook her head. “She always wanted me to come in for midmorning tea. I tried to make myself decline, but I couldn‘t without being outright rude. I couldn’t say no.”

Richard chuckled. “Few people could.”

“It plagued Emmett so, my inability to stand up to Hyacinth. But he couldn‘t stand up to her, either. And it was doubly difficult for him because she so wanted to cultivate him. His musical background would have added to her pretense of being intimate with the artsy set. Then, too, she thought he was befuddled because he had a crush on her. The more he tried to repulse her, in a gentlemanly way, of course, the more she tried to force herself on him.” Liz grew thoughtful. “It amazed me, and I believe that it amazed Emmett himself, when he cried at her funeral. He sat up there playing some of her favorite songs on the piano, and wept.” Liz shook her head in disbelief. “How she could murder those songs! Emmett used to cringe so!” She pursed her lips and felt tears stinging her eyes. It was a bittersweet memory even for her.

“I’m glad that Emmett found happiness, at last,” Richard said to bring the conversation back to something cheerful.

Liz shook herself out of her sad mood and smiled. “Me, too. I believe that Lorraine will be good for him. Her children will give him a chance to be a father, and I believe that he will be a good one. I just wish that he was closer. But the opportunity to teach music in Germany was too tempting to ignore. I do miss him so, though. He was my loyal companion for a number of years after the divorce from his first wife.”

“I’ve said that we can travel to Heidelberg as often as you would like, Liz.”

“I know. It’s so pricey, though.”

“Not at the Golden Sunset prices I can get now. There are some perks, I suppose, to getting old. We might as well take advantage of any bargains that we can get.”

“Now, Richard, age is just in your head.”

“And my joints and my back and my--”

“My, you are feeling frisky today, aren’t you? You are being such a tease this morning!”

“Really, Liz, let’s run away to Heidelberg soon, just you and I. Or Spain.” He got a twinkle in his eye. “Or maybe a South Sea island.“

“A South Sea Island?! Really? Whatever would we do there?“

“Well, we could go native. Live in a grass hut.“ He actually winked at her. “Wear grass skirts and dance the hula.“

“Grass skirts?! Dance the hula?! Richard! The idea!“

“Just let’s go somewhere together, alright?“ He patted her hand. “It would give me an opportunity to spoil you a little more than you allow me.”

“You’re so good to me, Richard. And for me. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been around after I received the news of David’s sudden death. He never made it home to England that final time, except in a coffin.”

“Dear girl, there was nothing else to do than to help you with your sorrow. Then, when Hyacinth sickened and was gone so suddenly, you were here to see me through the crisis. I’ll never be able to thank you enough. You were a rock. You and Daisy.”

“Poor Daisy! To lose so much of her family so quickly. Of course, Rose really isn’t gone from this life, but she might as well be. Married to some English tea merchant in Hong Kong. How long do you suppose that will last?”

Richard smiled. “As long as the English keep drinking tea and keep the prices up, Rose will be helping Cedric spend his money. Or next week, she might show up at Daisy’s house denouncing Cedric and wanting to live with her again.”

“Would Lenny allow it, though? He wants Daisy all to himself.” She shook her head. “Who would’ve thought that Daisy would’ve taken up with a motorcyclist half her age?”

Richard chuckled. “She always threatened to take one as a lover just to stir up Onslow. Then when she actually did, it caused him to have a fatal heart attack.” He looked wistful. “I miss Onslow.”

“I do, too. He was a genuine person. What? What are you chuckling about?”

“I was just wondering what Hyacinth is saying up in Heaven if she and Onslow are in the same place? She didn’t want to recognize him down here. And now they are on equal footing up there.” He glanced at her. “It just makes me so happy that I’ve got my little piece of heaven right here on Earth with you.”

“Richard! You are being such a romantic today!”

“Hyacinth wouldn’t always listen to me. For that, I bless you. You always take my romantic nonsense to heart.”

“Darling companion, you are so precious to me.” She arched an eyebrow. “It’s a good thing that we are here for each other. I believe that our children won’t be much help for either one of us.”

“Well, Sheridan and Tarquin are quite content in their bird sanctuary in the Shetlands. Hyacinth would have all sorts of fancy explanations about his life style. I just wish that he could support himself. At least, the government grant that he and Tarquin received is helping. And he is writing a book about his life there. Of course, his book about his life in the gay brothel in Marseilles is an underground bookseller. Hyacinth would probably say that the symbolism contained within it will be studied by generations of university students. She‘d see him as some sort of latter day Henry Miller.”

“And my Gail isn’t doing too much better. She is living a life of squalor with Harold in the London slums. At least there are the grandchildren.”

“Don’t expect any from Sheridan. Now that would be a modern day miracle, if he and Tarquin would start reproducing together.”

“Richard! Hyacinth would be appalled.”

“She saw what she wanted to see, that’s for certain.”

“Well, now, my dear, as pleasant as all of this gossiping is, I really must get back into the house,” Liz said with determination as she pushed herself to her feet. “That plaice will not steam itself. And I want to work up those early spring potatoes. The first of the new crop was in the market yesterday and will go with the plaice so well. And there’s enough of that lemon sponge for dessert. With some minted peas, that should make a jolly meal for us.”

“You’re going to fatten me up, for sure.“

“I don’t want Hyacinth to haunt me for that reason.“

“Oh, I’m certain that if she was going to haunt you, it wouldn’t be for neglecting to feed me. It'd be more than you're in my bedroom.“ He grinned and actually winked.

“Richard!“ she reproved, flustered.

“My sweet English girl,“ he murmured as he squeezed her hand. "You're right where I want you to be at bedtime."

She gave him a quivery smile. “The plaice--“

He hung onto her hand a moment longer. “I’ll be in to help you lay the table in a moment.”

“That would be ever so lovely, Richard.” She bent and placed a kiss on his forehead. “Stay as long as you wish out here, though, and enjoy the day.”

Richard settled back and did enjoy the day.

It was so nice to be living with Liz. She was so nurturing and so sweet. He was so lucky that she had been there just exactly when he had needed her when he had lost Hyacinth so quickly. Liz was his life now, and it would be odd not to have her with him now.

Hyacinth had been so difficult, so opinionated, so blind to what was truly important in life. Liz just traveled with the flow of life.

But Richard missed Hyacinth. He missed her with a physically pain in his chest.

True, he would not want her back. Not the way she had been. A gentler version of her would have been perfect. 

They really shouldn’t have been together. Like so many men, he had been blindsided when he had first met her. By the time he had figured her out, they were married and he was trapped. True, she spurred him to make himself greater than he would have been. True, he owed a lot of his success in life to her.

But she had gotten him into terrible situations. Terrible situations, indeed. He grinned softly in remembrance. No man should have to go through some of the situations in which she had placed him.

Those incidents had been demeaning and embarrassing and appalling and--

And fun! He opened his mouth in a full grin. Damn it, but they had been fun!

The smile faded quickly.

And he missed them.

He sighed.

He missed her so much, just as Liz probably still missed David and always would. You don‘t forget your first love. Even if that person drove you crazy, sometimes.

He would not want those crazy times back, but he missed them, and her.

He missed her like hell.

Because he had loved her.

Despite it all, he had loved her.

Who else had ever had a woman like that?

And now he had another woman. One who was almost the opposite of Hyacinth. But a wonderful woman in her own right.

Richard looked out over his garden warmed by the advancing sun. Two unique women and this garden had been his in this lifetime.

He was a lucky man. A lucky man, indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing of the television series "Keeping Up Appearances."


End file.
